I'm not out doing on-the-ground campaign reporting myself; the Atlantic has had some great dispatches on that score from Molly Ball. But several readers report what they have seen. First, from a worried Democrat, about the McCaskill-Akin ("legitimate rape") Senate race:
I live in Missouri, and I just don't trust these polling leads McCaskill has (which are embarrassingly small as it is). I think people may be embarrassed to tell pollsters they are supporting Akin (not necessarily claiming to support Claire, but perhaps being more likely to hang up on a pollster if they are pro-Akin).
I have a bad, bad feeling about this, but I hope I'm wrong--and not just because I like McCaskill (have met her several times) and think Akin would be a terrible senator. Beyond all that usual level of politics, it would be a black mark on Missouri, really make us an object of ridicule, if we were to elect him after all this. ::shudder::
For better or worse, we should all be past the "bad, bad feeling" stage, or its counterpart "good, good feeling," in a few days.
Now, from a more buoyant-sounding Democrat in Virginia:
If it comes down to the "ground game," I think Obama has this all sewn up. I live in northern Virginia (a "battleground state"). Yesterday, someone knocked on my door and asked for my Mom (who lives with me). I asked what it was about, and he said he was from the Democratic party and wanted to make sure she had a ride to her voting location on Tuesday (she's 89). When I said yes, she lived with me and that we would both be sure to vote on Tuesday (the straight Democratic ticket), he made a notation on his checklist, thanked us, and went on his way. Then today, a second canvasser came by to make sure we voted. I don't remember for sure, but I don't think we were visited by a canvasser 4 years ago, let alone two.
I now very much believe the reports I've read about Obama's vaunted ground game. One can always hope.
And from a fairly recent arrival in Washington, D.C., explaining this photo that he took last night: